"We're Brazilian, we don't give up.:"

Another school visit…this time to another favela but one that was about 40 min outside of downtown Rio. Another view of poverty in Rio. Life is not easy here and infrastructure is certainly not great. Malnourished wild horses grazing around dirt patches near the street…this was something I hadn’t seen before. It was obvious to me as we walked up to the school that it was going to be one of the poorest that we saw. It was very small and the students said that the structure of the school is one thing they would really like to change. As we walked past some of the students they chanted “Ghana, Ghana!” to us as a joke. Ha. NOT FUNNY. Haha. We visited a 9th,10th, and 11th grade class. I was interested by the students’ disapproval of the quota system that exists for letting minorities into university. They do not want to be “let in” to the universities because they said that this does not give them any pride and that the private school kids very much look down on students who get in through the quota system. These kids feel very inferior but amazingly are still so determined to work hard and change their reality. When asked what they do if they don’t do well on the Vestibular (their version of the SAT that they HAVE to pass to get into university) the first time, one kid said “Try again. We’re Brasilian, we don’t give up.” Unfortunately, the quality of instruction that these students receive, combined with the fact that they have 16 different subjects each week and only 4 hours of class a day means that I remain skeptical about how much they are actually learning…and this is evident in how unlikely it is that most of them (most because there are always your bright students who manage to rise above) will go to university. I will save the rest of my thoughts on that for my “final musings” later.
Anyways, I pretty much won over a fan club at this school and as Doug says he felt like he was walking around with Jessica Simpson. I mean all I did was answer their question about what we like about Rio so far with “bailefunk” (which is the type of dance that they all like to do) and immediately won some street cred I guess…..because when we walked out of another class later one of the girls ran up to me and hugged me and wouldn’t let me go and said “don’t leave!” and then they all wanted to dance with me. Oh it was so funny, they were giving me gifts, asking me if I was married, and teaching me some funny little dances from a tv show they like called Panico. Luckily one of the girls spoke some broken English so with my little bit of Portuguese combined with that I was able to talk to her and this group of kids and answer the questions they had about education and mainly college in the US. They really want to know what it is like there and what kind of opportunities kids in the US have. I was also thrilled to hear that so many of them love biology!
One thing that has come up at every school we have visited as a question from either the students or teachers is about gangs and violence in our schools. There is a pervasive perception here that we have a lot of violence and bullying in our schools in the US. While this is true to an extent it seems like they are somewhat misinformed about the prevalence of it so we always have to spend some time clarifying what the reality is.

I am really trying hard to learn as much (even though it’s only a little) Portuguese while I am here as I can. We have had 4 language lessons now and I am thoroughly enjoying them. Plus, meeting people and making contacts is motivation to learn more of the language so that I can communicate with them…especially since I think I want to do some collaborative projects (i.e. mock trials, social issue analysis) with my future students and students in Rio. Don’t take this personally because obviously I miss all of you and there are many things I look forward to enjoying back in the states (cheap PB and cereal, chips and salsa, tap water and tennis on tv…to name a few!) ….but I started thinking about how I don’t really feel homesick here…..homesick in the sense of feeling really displaced from where I “belong.” In fact, I would venture to say that even after living in Savannah for 2 years, I feel more at-home here in Rio after two weeks than I did there. There is just something about this place….the food, the music, the beaches/mountains/nature, the culture, and most importantly the PEOPLE that just relax me and make me feel like….well, ME. I like it.
Joyce is here this week to help us with our projects and so we are all going to eat dinner at a fancy seafood restaurant on the beach tonight. Should be fun! Only 8 days left here for me! Crazy how fast time goes….

A walk in the park...

Mon. 6/28
Well I think I mentioned before that our school visit for today got cancelled because it was a “national holiday.” This was probably a good thing since we are without Tamo and Olavo who are in Sao Paulo until tomorrow and whose translation skills are useful!
So we decided to sleep in a bit and then take the bus to Jardim Botanico, which is an enormous hidden getaway of acres and acres of natural goodness. In other words, it is a well-known collection of Brazilian and exotic flora. Dr. Finke would love this and I have to thank her botany class at X for turning this place into a green playground for me! Ahhh it was so beautiful and peaceful especially in contrast to the noise of the city on the outside. It had everything from waterfalls, to palm trees, to bamboo forests, to orchids, to lily pads that were four feet in diameter! There was also a Biblical garden and an Amazon region which made me feel as I was channeling my inner Bear Grylls. No sightings of lemon-flavored ants though. My favorite part was the medical plant garden. Oh mahhh goodness. I was in hog-heaven (or I suppose “homeopathic heaven” would be more appropriate) and I’m pretty sure I took a picture of about 75 % of the descriptive signs for the dozens of medical plants they had. I was amazed at how many biological/anatomical/medicinal words look similar in Portuguese to what they are in English meaning I could read about what all of the plants are used for. God bless Latin root words!! I kept saying that I would love to work there and I had an interesting conversation with Dmitri about one of his professors who did research in Mexico on the use of medicinal plants among women. Hmm, I think I hear wheels turning…
Minor side note: There were a lot of people wearing green and yellow and jerseys today. And after taking a nap on the beach mid-afternoon we got up to go sit at a table at kiosk and order some beverages and snacks and every tv at every kiosk had the SAME CHANNEL ON! What is wrong with these people?! I just wanted to watch Oprah (which believe it or not is on here in Rio, complete with Portuguese subtitles) and all they had on was some soccer game. Sheesh. And then the strangest thing happened. Three, count ‘em THREE times during the 2 hours that we sat enjoying our nosh and bev the city erupted in noise and firecrackers and horns and the waiter would run around yelling GGGOOOOOOAAAALLL!!!!! The waiters even stopped serving during the game so they could watch! It was so weird. I don’t know why everyone made such a big deal out if it but boy was I glad that I happened to have my Brazil flag sarong, green/yellow earrings and Brazil flag headband on…..without that I fear I would have felt slightly left out….! And so I used context clues to come to the conclusion that the Brazilian soccer team was playing in a very important match in something called the Copa de Mundo against a neighboring country, Chile and that it was a really good thing that they won….because now I guess they get to play again or something? I don’t know, it all seems a little crazy to me. Almost as crazy as the street parties that commenced after this and are still audible outside my window right now as I sit here watching a documentary on Ronaldinho and eating kiwi. These cariocas really take this soccer thing seriously….maybe I should join in the fun….

Monks and Markets

Sun. 6/27
Got up early and several of us took the metro downtown and then to the top of hill atop which stood a 17th century monastery. I was amazed at how ornate the entire interior of the church was and inside it was very dim and we were greeted with an intense aroma of incense. I have never been in a building that old. Mass was a little tiring because I was really struggling to keep up with and understand any of what they were saying unlike the past two masses I have been to here. Luckily, the real reason we decided to go was because it was a Gregorian chant mass. It sounded absolutely heavenly (hehe) and was well worth getting up early and making the trek down.
The day only got better because then we to the Ipanema Hippie Fair (no really, this is what it is called) which is a huge fair of artisan vendors that set up in a park every Sunday. If you are thinking this sounds like your average craft fair with woodwork door decorations and paisley-patterned handmade purses think again…...”craft fairs” are wayyyyy cooler in Brazil and let’s just say I wanted everything. Brazil is apparently known for its leather and I saw some of the most amazing chairs, shoes, bags and jewelry made from leather…all of which smelled really good! If only I didn’t have to fly home I totally would have purchased an ottoman. Ha. Because the exchange rate is so good here I bought so many things for so cheap. I even did a little bartering! The highlights for me must have been the artwork (which is all SO COLORFUL!) the jewelry and the caramelized coconut that I bought from a food vendor. It was just such a happy feeling to walk through this park and see all of the beautiful and creative things that these Brasileiros had created, eating good food and sharing with Molly a sense of excitement when we saw a table full of infant-sized leather sandals. Life is good and I am definitely going back next week!
To cap off the night I got to walk down to the rocks at Arpoador which juts out into the ocean in between Copacabana and Ipanema beach. The sun had just set behind the mountains and there were dozens of people out on the rocks sharing food, embracing, playing guitar, or walking with their kids. The set of lights illuminating the water by the rocks allows surfers to do some night surfing and people to fish off of the rock formations as onlookers enjoy the sight. The most amazing thing was that it was a full moon and I don’t think I have even seen it so big and orange….and to think we are all under that same moon. God’s gifts of nature were at their finest at this spot in beautiful Brazil. Do I have to leave? 

A little comic relief...

A couple of funny stories:
Swimwear:
So I figured if I am going to be in Brazil I have to buy a swimsuit here. However, the challenge was to find something that would actually be socially acceptable to wear in the US as well. Megan and Molly went with me and the lady that helped me didn't speak English of course...sooo after trying on several she noticed I kept going back to the racks and she look at me kind of asking what was wrong with the ones I tried on...and finally she just said "pequinha?" (meaning small haha) and I just started laughing and saying "Sim! Muito pequinha!" (Yes! Very Small!...as in...I am an Americana and I have too many tan lines to be abe to pull off your barely-there Brazilian swimwear!) So she kept throwing suits into the dressing room for me and finally found one that I could actually wear somewhere other than Rio haha. Good enough. "Que Legal!" (That's cool) she assured me....SUCCESS.

Doug:
Since I am on the topic of being scantily clad, allow me to tell you about an interesting middle-of-the-night moment a member of our group had. Doug, a thirty-something master teacher was trying to sleep in his second floor apartment on a Friday night in Copacabana when he heard some loud ramblings outside. Probably just a bar fight, right? WRONG. Rather, when he went to his window he was a little surprised (although I'm not sure why...it's Rio) to see a woman, completely naked standing in the middle of the street yelling a lot of crazy things. Actually, it's really not a laughing matter because she was obviousl on something, but in hindsight it is kind of funny because.....the next thing he knew some guy came out of one of the stores with a bucket of water and just threw it in order to try and snap her out of it. Yeah. That happened. Weird story I know, but things like that definitely don't happen everyday, and needless to say Doug had some trouble sleeping after that. haha.

Churros!:
So Dmitri and I have been trying since after dinner last Tuesday to find churros for dessert. If you don't know what a churro is you are really missing out. They are cylindrical pieces of TASTY dough fried and dipped in cinammon-sugar. The best one I have ever had was on the Santa Monica pier...but here you can get them with FILLING...either dolce de lece (like a caramel), chocolate (pronounced "show-ko-lah-tchee" in Rio>) or coconut. So clearly this is why we are dying to have one. We see the vendors on the streets everywhere we go and they are selling these (along with other amazing treats like corn in the husk, tapiocas of all sorts, kettle corn and guarana) but after dinner when we want it we can never find it! So D and I walked up and down the patterned sidewalks of Copacabana beach after our dinner the other night and of course there was only one vendor on the whole stinkin beach and he was selling CORN! Arghhhh. I think one day when I am pregnant churros will surely be what I crave. So we will continue our search to find a churro man at the time of night when he is really of essence. I will keep you posted on my (hopeful) successes.

Babies:
Well the streak of cute Brazilian baby/kid sightings continues. Sheesh. They are everywhere. One in particular today was waking hand-in-hand with who I am assuming was his dad....and he just kept staring as he walked so his dad stopped and kept saying something to him while I smiled at the little tot (and did everything in my power to resist the temptation to take him...hahaha) and then finally the kid just takes his hand and blows me a huge kiss. Uhhhhh, pretty much the most adorable thing I have ever seen.

HEXA!:
Well we had to wake up early to get ready and walk down to Ipanema to get a seat at place to watch the Brazil v. Portugal game. This is a huge rivalry, for obvious reasons. So we paid our cover charge to get into the restuarant which was utterly decked out in green, yellow, and soccer garb. There was a live band playing and surprisingly enough our waiter spoke a little Engligh and they had pretty standard American fare. But anyways in addition to the rowdy fans and good music perhaps the best part of this outing was that they passed out cards to everyone where you predicted 5 things about the game before it began and for everyone you got right they would give you a free chopp (draft beer.) And whaddya know part of the way through the first half Fabiano gets the first card of the game and I win! Yeah. I know my Brazilian soccer. What can I say.... :) Hexa!!!

Lapa:
So Rio nightlife is something everyone should experience in their life. In a part of the city known as Lapa you can find everything from samba (which we did last week), to jazz, to bossa nova, to baile funk (which we did this week.) I will spare the blog the details of nights out in Rio and if you are interested in hearing them just let me know. The music here is absolutely fantastic though and you can't help but enjoy yourself. Oh Brazil....

FIFA:
So we went to watch the US v. Ghana game at the FIFA Fan Fest venue on the beach. This is truely an experience because you get to watch soccer on a ginormous screen while laying in the sand and being surrounded by tons of other fans (really the only place you can go in Rio and find this many people speaking English.) So the tv station that is covering the World Cup in Rio comes over to us and the guy is being all excited in Portuguese and sits down next to us and interviews us. We know he is saying something about us being "bonita" and being "Americanas." So we threw out a few words we knew and then I just finished by chanting USA! USA! into the camera. So hopefully I will be on tv in Rio next week wearing my true colors! It's funny though we never know if people are making fun of us so we asked some guys in front of us who spoke English and Portuguese and he assured us that they weren't. There were an awful lot of Ghana fans who didn't look Ghanaian though.... Grrrrr. Good game boys. Oh and also, now we can't stop imitating the way that Portuguese-speakers say the name of our opponent....."Estados Unidos e Guuuuuuh-nuhhh"!


One last thing...I am sampling so many good desserts here in Brazil. I had no idea they were known for such amazing sweets. And my fridge officially smells of goiba...a delicious new fruit that I now love eating for breakfast.

Through a different lens...

Thurs. 6/24
Today we visited the second of the two public schools that is partially funded by a private sector. This school, called NAVE happens to be sponsored by a phone company and is geared towards technology training. Both NATA and NAVE are model schools for the state of Rio and there is a third one that is in the works that will be geared towards marine biology and sea port jobs skills with related businesses that will sponsor it. At NAVE they see the teachers more as researchers so they have a lot of time where they are not in the classroom to do their research and to plan cross-curricularly (such as having students write, record, edit, and produce songs and screenplays about content knowledge such as the French Revolution for example.)…pretty cool stuff. Any student can attend but they have to take and do well on a test to get in. It sort of resembles our magnet schools and their acceptance rate is 30-1….more selective than Ivy League colleges. So even though it is a public school this testing-in situation still perpetuates a socioeconomic gap because you can imagine that for the most part only students who already attended good schools are going to have the knowledge base to get in. It was a shocking feeling walking into a school that is basically a techie’s playground (kind of resembled COSI or a museum…video games and computers in the lobby) which was such a contrast to yesterday’s school visit in the favela and it was sort of difficult to stomach. My feeling of amazement at the facilities and focus of the students was immediately met with a feeling of frustration and jaded-ness (?) at the comparison between these two schools. I suppose we have the same thing in the US but the contrast here just seems a lot greater. It just seems like they are selecting for somewhat privileged students even though it is a public school. As I mentioned before, they don’t have to pay tuition but it stands to reason that the majority of students who do well on the exam have had access to a decent primary education which is usually not a luxury afforded to kids in the favelas. Ahh….the inequalities of offering today’s youth access to quality education….therein lies the rub. But the good news is that the private businesses are “doing good” in at least giving some students an opportunity for a better education that they might have had otherwise.
After lunch we had the privilege of attending a sort of roundtable discussion ut the the systemic problems in the education system and this was with a professor (a friend of Tamo’s) at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. He, his colleague, and a few students of his were all there and they were very laid-back, informal yet very academic and intelligent people. And for the first time I really stopped in my tracks and thought about what I have the privilege to be a part of here in Rio. This is a true involved look at the issues surrounding social inequality in education in a still-developing country that really allows and forces me to make connections to and think critically about not only these issues but also those in the US (although it does make me incredibly thankful for many of the systems we do have in place.) Basically I just feel very blessed that my opportunities in education (thank you mom, dad and teachers!) have brought me here at this point in time and I just hope that the journey doesn’t end here.
Anyways….for those of you who are interested, here are some musings on these said issues….(Lauren Staley you would have loved to be in on this conversation….) There is a large stratification in public vs. private schools here and even more inequality in the public system itself. There is no geographic limitation on enrollment (i.e. districting) and kids can go anywhere they want. Yet, they still end up with black/white schools, etc. For example, a school right next to the favela may have a “darker, poorer” student population and there might be a school right across the street with “whiter” kids….and the researchers are asking WHY does this happen?

There is no accountability for the existence of this disparity. For me this kind of highlights the importance of assessment, evaluation and standardization of education especially in developing nations. Apparently in Brazil (Rio) the issue used to be access to education and now it has become the quality of education. As the budget increased 15 years ago the quality of education somehow went down. They discussed how teacher preparation plays a role in this and we found out that when teachers here graduate from university they are professionals meaning they really have no training period that they go through (like that of doctors or lawyers.) They only receive practical training by teaching 5 fifty-minute lessons over the course of 5 semesters. Practical “in the classroom” training is for some reason resisted and there are systems in place to mandate it. Most teachers work a 3-5different schools in order to make enough to live on (i.e. make minimum wage!) This in turn leaves little time for professional development or lesson planning. So being a teacher in Brazil is not unlike having to work several retail or food industry jobs in the US in order to support a family.
Well the academic discourse continued for about 2.5 hours and I will spare you the rest of the details but it was super interesting and very informative and really got me thinking a lot about issues in the education systems. It’s good to be able to look at things from this angle while having the in-classroom perspective as well I think.

Leave your fear at the door and we'll teach you how to jerk...

Weds. 6/23
So we met up this morning and the first thing Tamo, our leader, tells us is that there was a shooting somewhere in the favela we were supposed to be visiting a school in and that we have the option of not going if we don’t feel comfortable. Dear God, is he for real?!?!? However, we met up with the Under-Secretariat who was to take us there by van (because taking a cab there WOULD be unsafe…you don’t just wander into these places like that) …she told us that the shooting was on the other side of the mountain and that we were safe to go. So we went….sorry mom. No but really, reality hit for me today. And while according to Tamo, the shoddy brick shacks in the poorest of the favelas would be luxury to people in India, this is still pretty harsh poverty and this particular favela is known to be the most violent as evidenced b the bloody pictures of drug raids that the principal showed us to give us an idea of the community in which this school serves. This favela is unpacified meaning that the drug traffickers basically run the neighborhood. There is no police presence there and there are even retractable metal rods in the middle of the streets that are raised when police try and raid the area. INTENSE STUFF. So the school we visited had recently gotten a new principal who has apparently turned the school around from kids doing crack (a recently-arrived drug in Rio) in the hallways to having sex in class….I kid you not….to a school where discipline problems are very minimal and kids get sent home if they are out of uniform. She is trying to run a school of 1,000 students on a budget meant for 500. All students are served a free lunch and dinner and they even serve drug addicts on the streets meals if they come asking for one. She and her staff feel very strongly about education and the impact it can have on the students’ lives but they face the challenge of convincing many kids to stay in school even though they could go make a lot of money being part of the drug trade. A hard sell when families here only make an average of $120 a month. While the reality for the people these communities is bleak and the students really don’t even envision life outside of the favela (i.e. college) the gem is that there are caring people here that have a lot of heart. They value the balance between work and play and the principal wants the teachers to feel welcomed and have fun at their job. They told us that they hope we leave the favela with more hope and love and less fear because there are people who care and believe things can change. I suppose it doesn’t hurt to spread this word either…. 
The students performed samba music and dance for us and eventually the whole school and some of the neighbors started to filter out into the schoolyard to where we were. In a place like this news travels fast that a group of American teachers are here to visit… There was a woman from one the Rio’s best samba schools who was there shaking it in ways I didn’t know were possible and “trying” to teach us. I looooove any opportunity to dance so it was so fun but I know I must have looked like a fool.
By the way, I eat so much fruit here it’s amazing. This makes up for the lack of water I drink since everything has to come from a bottle and not the tap. The tap water here is not potable in large quantities. The persimmons especially are to die for and there are just dozens of types of tropical fruits available fresh from the rainforests in all grocery stores and on every street corner. This is what Heaven must be like! The interesting thing is that you never see obese people here. This is not to say that everyone is skinny but still it’s quite different. Even in the poorest neighborhoods like in the favela we went to today there is an abundance of fresh produce being sold at every corner. It was too risky (and in my opinion rude) to take pictures in the narrow, downtrodden (yet lively! Music filled the air everywhere…like a soundtrack to their lives) streets of the favela but I really wish I could take that street and bring it back to you all…just so you could experience its uniqueness.
The school lunch (which they kindly asked us to stay for) was rice, black beans, cooked squash w/ chicken and lettuce/carrots/cabbage/beets. All of the kids get free lunch but what a healthy meal for cheap! SO different from what a free lunch looks like in the US. Sure fresh produce may be a little more readily available here but if a developing nation can feed its below-poverty line students healthy meals then an industrialized nation can surely find a way to do the same for all of its student….call me crazy, but it’s just a thought. Anyways I just love that all of the kids liked beets and that they were watching soccer during lunch!
The boys breakdancing team did a 10-min show for us and it was honestly the SICKEST thing I have ever seen. It was as good as America’s Best Dance Crew except it was even better because their heart and spirit for what they do was just oozing out of them. LOVE IT. But wait, it gets better. My friend Lara and figured out how to ask them if they could teach us some moves and like a couple of high school girls we giddily approached them when we finished our lunch and asked. Of course they obliged ( I mean come on…) and we got a little dance session with them in their “rehearsal space”….complete with sweet music. I couldn’t stop smiling the whole time….so add that to my Brazil dance repertoire. Haha.
Crazy though that we got there as complete strangers and when we left 3 hours later it felt like we were leaving friends. Such welcoming people these Brazilians are...

Open eyes and a little breakdancing

Tues. 6/22
Today was a bit of a treat because we went to of two schools that is a pilot for a new public/private sector model that the state of Rio de Janeiro is trying. Allow me to explain…(this is a pretty interesting concept…) The school, called NATA (yes, an acronym) is only two years old and is dually funded by the state as well asa private company called Pau de Acucar, which is a grocery store chain. The school building is a purchased and remodeled old dairy factory and part of the factory remains active because the mission behind the school is to provide training in food technology through an integrated curriculum. (*Note: while this may sound something like Great Oaks in Ohio, I assure it is not because they are not necessarily trying to train kids to enter these types of jobs, it is just a practical way to give what they learn a practical component…that and kids have to perform well on an entrance exam to get in.) Anyways, I suppose a good comparison in the states would be our magnet schools. The cool thing is that because of the funding from the private sector they have lab equipment that rivals that of a college lab and their classes are conducted in a similar fashion as well as they have the theory/lecture part of the class in a classroom and the lab practical in the lab at different times. The samples that they make in lab are then used in the food production. Many students travel very far to get to the school each day, and we even talked to one girl who has a three hour commute EACH WAY every day to school, and they go to school longer than most other public school students but it is worth it for them because of the opportunity it provides them. They leave here with skills for many types of science careers in addition to the food science industry.
When we arrived they served us the most AMAZING cheese and dolce de leite (caramelized milk) on crackers and we came to find out that the kids made it! In fact all of what they make gets used in their cafeteria for meals. SO COOL. So yeah approximately 30% of the content teachers have to cover gets integrated into the technical skills aspect of their education. In order to accomplish this, every Wednesday from 1-5:30 teachers meet to plan this curriculum integration while students work on in-school internships in the cheese factory, microbiology lab, etc. led by technical instructors. Students also study entrepreneurship and cooperative management…After speaking with the students it was clear that they see being at the school as an opportunity to change their lives and as a result they are very motivated. I was surprised at how many of them knew some basic bits of English.
Later in the day we went to a social project organization called Afroreggae. It was in the Cantagalo favela, which is the one right behind where we are staying. This, however is a pacified favela (there is an internal police force that controls the drug trafficers)so no worries there. It was cool because we got to take this giant elevator up to the favela since it is on the top of one of the hills. We got to talk to several of the people who work for Afroreggae including dance instructors, psychologists, and social workers. Many of the people that work there live in the favela or participated in the program when they were younger and it was so inspiring to them that they wanted to give back. They have several govt. and private sponsors and they offer classes such as hp hop and circus (yes, circus….in fact the whole place resembled a circus ring.) Their mission is to sort of rescue kids off the streets from the drug trade and develop them as good people and teach them job skills while helping them to understand that progress is a slow process. They were very honest about the harsh reality that some of these kids live but also hopeful about giving the kids a safe place and a place to live a better life. They try to involve kids from “the pavement” (neighborhoods down below that are not favelas) in order to bridge the gap between the youth. It seems like a very positive way to keep kids safe, give them an outlet/assort of art therapy for the negative effects of having family member involved in drug trafficking. Finally we got to see a breakdancing class! Apparently hip hop has recently become more of a demand among the youth here as it infiltrates from the US. The kids were so into it and their instructor (yet another reminder of why I value guys who can dance as wonders of the world  haha) has a great rapport with them and they behave so well. Not only were some of them very good but they were all having fun and some even spoke some very poignant words about their philosophy on dance or “being a B boy” as a part of life….which was really touching. I really wanted to get up and learn some moves but I guess a free show and a picture with the instructor was enough.Great experience and great dialogue. Good things are happening in little pockets all over this city…
We finished up the day with Portuguese class #2 and a nice dinner at Bibi, the restaurant at which we are now becoming regulars. They love us there and we help them with English while they help us with Portuguese. And they even brought me the English salad order form because they knew I have ordered a salad the past two times that I’ve been there. Haha. Their salads are soo good because you get to choose up to 15 items off of an incredible array of options. This time I had a spinach, ricotta and walnut crepe and of course acai….they have the best in Copacabana.

Mais um Acai por favor!

Today we visited a public school in a nearby city called Niteroi. We had to take subway, bus and a ferry to get there....and WOW the ferry made me so seasick. I ahd to put my head down the whole time. Boooo motion sickness! The school we went to was called Baltazar Bernadino. It was awesome walking in because the teachers, students, and the director were all so welcoming to us. They had DELICIOUS banana cake and juice for us, a Powerpoint to tell us about their school (such as the sweet extracurriculars they offer....futsol, graffiti, hip hop, drum line, capoeira to name a few). They do a science project every year and go around to public places to tell people about it which I think is a cool idea along with the interdisciplionary World Cup project they did. They had art projects, science projects, history, sociology and math projects all tied to the World Cup....SO COOOOOOOL. We had a great convo with the teachers and a few select students who had a LOT of questions about college in the US.
Again the people there were so welcoming...perhaps the best we've seen (if that's possible!) They practically begged us to stay to have some traditional Brazilian food for lunch (arroz com feijao---rice and black beans, pumpkin, amd they even sliced up a tomato with olive oil for Lara and I since we don't eat meat!) They gave us something called "guava-sweet" for dessert which reminded me ofnatural fruit leather in the US. Aidan quickly bonded with 2 of the male students who wanted to teach him how to say bad words in Portuguese (kids will be kids! haha) and play Lady Gaga for us (YESSSS! I can't tell you how many carioca teens I have bonded with over Gaga oooh lala!)
When we went into the school yard the younger kids descended on us and started chatting with us about the World Cup. Some key words I have learned for communicating with kids here: copa (World Cup), hexa Brasil (their phrase for Brasil aiming to win a sixth World Cup title), nunca Estados Unidos (basically the US hasn't won any cups haha), and bonita (because the girls like to say "you are very pretty" which is funny because they are the ones who I think are so beautiful.)
This was apparently the first time they had seen foreigners and they were so eager to take pictures with us and know if we would take them back to the US. So precious. The kids think America is so amazing. One of the teachers said she had never met and American and was pleased that we were so nice. Yeah you're welcome for giving the US a good rep down here in Rio :) haha. Best line: "Is Obama really black?" hahah Best moment: The boys trying to teach us to dance.
Seeing these kids who are such precious adorable little baby gems smiling and laughing all around gave me chills and such an overwhelming sense of joy. Moments like this are priceless and all I can think of to describe the feeling is the famous line from Les Miserables (yeah Lauren and Meg you know the one...)..."To love another person is to see the face of God." :) I'll have to come back someday to adopt one of these lil ones.
Finally, riding the bus back to Rio we went past all of the sea ports and it reminded me of my value for people hard-at-work. It's easy as a "priveledged American" to develop a somewhat prestigious idea of jobs, work, etc. and sometimes forget that the majority of people this is what "a day at the office" looks like. Much like it does for farmers and such back home. Trade work is a way of life for millions of people and there is so much value in that. So these "day in the life" glimpses of Rio give me a deeper respect for and a more complete picture of what makes this city move. (Both literally and figuratively, of course....)
Last thing, yesterday I had acai THREE times. There are little juice/pastry stands everywhere that sell it. Interestingly it's basically socially unacceptable to eat/drink while walking. People stop at the stands and sit or stand to finish their snack (even if it's only like 5 min.) I think it's neat. But yeah, I'm officially addicted to antioxidants.
Well I am off to eat a delicious meal of all-you-can-eat crepes. YUM!!!! I apologize for the lack of pictures. The hard drive on my computer crashed so getting pics up might might be difficult for a lil while but I will see what I can do. Love and miss you all and I want to bring you all here so I can share all of the beauty Brasil has to offer.

Sun, Surf, Sugarloaf and Samba!

My Friday consisted of:
1. Waking up and running along the beach
2. Acai smoothie and a mango for breakfast
3. Group meeting/soccer watching
4. Body surfing in the Altantic on Copacabana beach (workout number 2 for the day!)
5. Beach futbol
6. Continuing to acclimate to the skimpy swimwear that Brazilians flaunt....
7. Riding in a cable car up to Sugarloaf Mountain (Pau de Acucar)...the light-colored one you see in the picture above) and seeing what must be one of the most spectacular views in the world. I even hiked through a little jungle and saw some monkeys on the mountain...and it was even cooler because we were in a cloud! Nighttime fell when we were up there so we saw the lights of the city come and and the Christ the Redeemer statue appear through the darkness! Talk about awesome
8. Eating yet another fantastic dinner at a buffet which are a gazillion times different and better than th US idea of a buffet
9. Capping the night off with a full evening of samba dancing in Lapa. The samba band was incredible and the locals were so nice about teaching us what to do. Clearly we stayed til it closed :) I think I will be ready for Dancing With the Stars by the end of the four weeks haha. I already found a sweet remix by the black Eyed Peas of one of the songs they played....so I will be happy to give lessons upon my return :)
....I was SO sore Saturday though....
I guess you could say weekends are kinda nice here in Rio...

Oi

Ok this will be a long post….so for your convenience I will give you sub-headings and you can skip over things you are not interested in reading 
School visits: The past two days we visited 3 schools. Two public and one private. The first school, Andre Filho was a small public school with an incredibly motivated, respectful and jovial student body. After touring the school and talking to the teachers we got to sit in on a couple of classes and talk to the kids. High schools in Rio are grades 9, 10 and 11 which they call first, second and third year. They have no “12th grade.” The kids at this school were very open about the way they respect their teachers and feel respected by them and this relationship is a large part of any successes that the school experiences. While many kids will not go on to college because they will not pass the vestibular, they are motivated to study and learn and they are incredibly articulate and willing to share about their lives. Nearly every student in a class of around 30 was openly talking to us and asking questions which was a incredible sight to see. When asked what they knew of the US, they said Keenan and Kel and Lady Gaga and that they liked the Chicago Bulls. Go figure. They all ask if US high schools are “like they are in the movies?” haha…they want American students to know that Rio is not just Carnival parties but there is so much good culture here that the people are proud of. One of the classes had a girl that was a Beyonce look-alike! 
The next school was called Andre Maurois and was reminiscent of a badly-run US public school, although the director (principal) really tried to impress us. This school serves students who live in the neighborhood in the movie City of God. Although if you have ever seen the movie it is not a good depiction of reality. I got a bad vibe at first because when we entered the teacher’s lounge one teacher immediately went on a rant about the US teaching false information about Brazil because she knows of a book that is used there that says the Amazon isn’t even in Brazil. She was very rude and accusatory and clearly anti-American. A bizarre feeling, but only our first encounter with this and hey, there are crazy people no matter where you go in the world, huh? Anyways, most of the teachers are really great and motivated to help their students. This is incredibly impressive considering their lack of resources and the fact that they only get paid about the equivalent of $600 a month in the US. And we thought teacher salaries were bad in the United States……if you are a teacher in the US you would be embarrassed to tell them how much you make. The Portuguese teacher was particularly impressive and she described to us how she teaches her students to express themselves in different situations, especially professional situations. I’d say this is something that our American students could benefit from… A funny thing was when she said that she doesn’t get angry at her students if they use bad language she just says: “Is anyone in here wearing a bikini? No because it would not be appropriate…so we don’t say things like that in class because it is not appropriate.” Ha…I might have to use that one sometime. She was such a caring person who is really dedicated to the formation of her students as citizens through her curriculum. At Andre Maurois there is a strong net of trust between the teachers and the students. Even though these students hail from areas known for high crime the rooms in the school with valuable equipment are always left unlocked and they never have any issues with kids stealing things. In fact, the students actually thank the directors for letting them use the computer room, etc. They stress “freedom with responsibility” to their students. The students are very sharp and intellectual and are eager to talk about social issues such as the college acceptance quota system. They are very friendly and like the Filho students (and all students in Rio that we have met) they really want to share their lives and invite you into their story. It’s beautiful. I’ve never felt so genuinely welcome by strangers. They even had me sit in a chair and did a “physics experiment” where 4 of them lifted me up with their fingers! “It won’t hurt!” they promised me.  The students stay in the same class and the teachers move around so each “class” was assigned a Copa de Mundo (WORLD CUP!) country and they decorated the entire classroom in that flag and colors. Volleyball or “volley” and futbol (“footsh-bol”) are always being played outside, it’s no wonder Brazil is notoriously successful in these sports! Lastly, while teens here love music and cell phones like any American teen, you don’t see them constantly plugged-in…they seem much more interested in talking, laughing and enjoying the presence of the people they are with.
Escola Parque, the private school we visited is in a very rich part of Rio and walking into the campus felt like walking into a botanical garden. They have a waterfall inside the school grounds! Gah! The facilities were obviously much nicer and it seemed much more organized as evidenced b the directors and teachers who shared info about the school with us. This school reminded me of a Jesuit school in that while it is very elite (it costs R$1000 a month to attend…i.e. $600-ish dollars) and its students are very privileged, this school is incredibly focused on social awareness through a tripod system involving social, economic and environmental social projects. They have projects going throughout the year, some sponsored by the British Council, that give students the chance to teach younger kids, work in programs in the city, etc. One was a group of 30 students who worked via videoconference with students from 11 other countries on a climate change awareness project. It is truly amazing how they aim to sensitize their students to human rights issues outside of the school which translates into creating leaders who will go on to university and then go back to the community and have jobs making changes in the community. I would LOVE to teach at this school! I am so interested in the way that they form protagonistic, socially-aware students who are primed to go on and tackle the daunting social issues in Rio. When we left the school you could hear all of the elementary school kids practicing a performance of the World Cup theme song. It was awesome and made me so happy!
Language
I love Portuguese! I am slowly starting to feel more comfortable with the language. We had our first Portuguese lesson with a fantastic teacher named Patricia and I really felt like she really unlocked some doors in my brain to being able to hear the language in a different way where I feel almost more involved in it. I miss studying a language and I relish this opportunity to be thrown into the Portuguese language. They have a lot of pronunciation quirks such as pronouncing: “d” as a soft “g” some “s” endings as “sh” and some “t” s as “-tch” ….but it’s so beautiful and fun to speak.
Food
I have had more coffee here than I have ever had in m life…usually bc I don’t want to be rude when they offer it at all of the schools. I actually like it bc they put a lot of sugar in it and they serve it in really tiny cups. When in Rio…. Grocery shopping was also an interesting experience but I managed to eyeball the perfect spice for fajitas even though I couldn’t read the packages! I can’t get enough of the acai smoothies and pastel. Yum yum!!!

Painting the town green and yellow

All of you soccer fans be jealous. You would love Rio right now. Since Brazil’s first game was today the city was just revolving around and buzzing about soccer. We had a conference with the Secretary of the Dept. of Education today which was very interesting. They were interested in getting our input to help improve the way they do curriculum which I found to be a little flattering seeing as how I do not exactly consider myself an expert in curriculum. But anyways, it was really funny because not only was their entire building and all of the employees decked out in Brazilian colors and jerseys but throughout the meeting you could hear the noise and excitement on the streets getting louder and louder. They got out at noon in order to go watch the game…….at 3:30!! Haha. There is truly no sporting event to compare this to. We watched the game in a restaurant I learned a lot of new profanity in Portuguese…thankfully we got to celebrate 2 goals and a victory! Whoot woooo!!!!! Best moment though was walking down the street and seeing a little boy jumping up and down in the window so I turned and imitated him and he got so excited and was like “Brasil! Brasil!” ahhhhh he was so cute!!!! I wanted to put him in my purse and take him with me. (Him and every other unbelievably ADORABLE Brazilian kid…I want one. Very badly.  ) By the way…as I type this there is still incessant honking down on the streets post-soccer game…
Oh my and I found a sweet fruit stand today and got so much good fruit for like 6 reias (only like 3 dollars) Seriously….the best mangos I have ever laid eyes on were 50 cents!! Life doesn’t get much better than that. Most importantly I have learned how to order feijao at restaurants….since I can’t live without black beans.

Heart and music...

Oi! Today we visited our first school located in Mangueira, the biggest favella in Rio. It is recently pacified (meaning there is an internal, consistent police presence within the neighborhood, rather than a lawless environment run by the drug dealers) and is notorious for its winning samba school.

*Knowledge bomb: Samba is HUGE to cariocas and I’m sure when you think of Rio you may think of Carnival, the big festival of parades and samba right before Lent begins. It turns out that the culprits of this extravagant celebration are the various samba schools/teams. Carnival is the time when these schools come out to perform and showcase themselves by competing against the other samba schools (which are not actually schools but really teams.) Schools like the one we visited today have to adjust their school year calendar to accommodate for kids who are involved in Carnival and samba competitions.

Annnnyways… Jefferson, one of the teachers that went with us today as a translator, used to teach Portuguese at the school that we visited today so he was our “in” to the school. After walking through the dilapidated streets The school was a public school serving students who are very poor and they fight a tough battle of trying to keep kids in school and get them to value education instead of succumbing to the temptation of a “deceptively prosperous” life in drug trade. The number of students from this school who will go to university each year can be counted on one hand and according to the principal the school’s mission is focused more on keeping kids off of the streets and out of trouble rather than having 6 hours of intense academics everyday in efforts to prepare them for college.

In light of this, they are very focused on providing classes and activities that students enjoy and want to come to school for so they put a lot of energy into art, dance, music and sports. It was amazing to hear what high importance physical education holds here and according to the principal it is something the students love and want to have. We visited a dance/music class where only a few students were available that period but the instructor was kind enough to ask his students to perform for us! I kept hoping the whole time that he would ask us to participate……and my wish was granted. I dropped my purse in a heartbeat and got my first taste of the samba as soon as he invited us to join. Lookout Nicole Scherzinger…. J We also got to sit in on a math class which the sophomores were GLAD to have interrupted. Again, even with the language barrier, cultural differences, etc. I am amazed at how no matter where you go, KIDS ARE KIDS! Their spirit was no different than what you might see anywhere else.

Today’s takeaway: It’s amazing how unifying laughter, facial expressions and music/dance can be. The language barrier is a blessing in disguise to an extent because I am way more in touch with the beauty of connecting with other people in these ways that do not involve words. I had the biggest smile ever when I was dancing with those kids and got to see the joy on the faces of everyone in the room. I have always felt a connection to and passion for music and dance but today made me appreciate it in a new way.

Great meal for the day: black beans, kale, and a caipirinha while sitting outside on the Copacabana beach and watching the World Cup on tv. Happiness. Tomorrow Brazil plays North Korea…..I have my Kaka jersey…..DO YOU???!!!

Boa noite…

Bem tarde!

I have never been happier to be Catholic than I was today. After a day of feeling disconnected from the people here because I don't speak Portuguese going to mass and being able to understand what was going on and feel in community with the people regardless of the language barrier was an amazing feeling. It was a children's mass too which was beautiful and they did a puppet show for the homily. AN interesting observation I made was that most of the people at the mass were women.
We went to the hippie market at Ipanema and saw the beautiful beach at Ipanema, too which is a wealthier area than Copacabana. I got my first glimpse of the favella today as we passed the entrance to one on our way home. The police guard the bottom of the hill as they forbid residents of the favella from coming down into the city after a certain hour because of the crime they are known to cause...more on that later.)
We are visiting a school in the favella for the first time tomorrow. I am really looking forward to this and I can't wait to tell you all about it.
THe food here is absolutely amazing and I was so happy to get to go to the market today and buy fruit and juices and so much fresh stuff that is much more hard to come by in the US. I am slowly learning some street smarts and I am practicing the language as much as possible. Mass this morning was actually a great chance to practice pronunciation. I cooked everyone dinner when we got back tonight..and even with the limited spices I had to work with the vegetable pasta was a hit....perhaps the caipirinhas helped my kitchen cred ;)
We went to a museum today and one of the "exhibits" was a projector screen with the World Cup playing. Welcome to Rio. All of you soccer players/fans....this is absolute heaven.
Tomorrow's goals: purchase Brazilian swimwear and a Brazil soccer jersey. Run along Copacabana beach.
That's all for now...

One week til Rio!

Hey y'all (...I'm still in Savannah) I have decided to set up a blog to keep everyone posted on what I'm up to while I'm in Brazil. I am very excited to get to be a of a Fulbright-Hayes Projects Abroad Program, funded by the US Dept of Education through the University of Notre Dame. As part of the program we will be required to develop curricular materials for middle and
high school students by incorporating our first hand learning experience in Brazilian society
about its culture, education system and dynamics of youth. In short, the project I am a part of will help develop a sustainable knowledge repository about Brazilian society and Brazilian-
Portuguese language for implementing curricular enrichment of American high school students.
I head to Notre Dame next Tuesday for 3 days of pre-departure orientation and then we fly out of South Bend next Friday June 11th en route to Rio de Janeiro. I will be traveling with a group of 13 people including another ACEr (Dmitri, who was teaching in Austin, TX during his ACE term), some Notre Dame undergrad education majors, a few master teachers from the state of Indiana, and our program director, Tamo who has been involved in research collaboration with education and youth development NGO-s, Government agencies and higher education institutions in Brazil over the past ten years. I'm sure you will hear much more about the people in my group throughout my travels...!
Anyways, please check back starting next Friday as I begin to post about my adventures. I hope you enjoy reading and looking at what I hope will be some beautiful pictures. :) Until then... get excited for the World Cup which starts in ONE WEEK. (Congratulations if you just made the connection that I will be in the soccer capital of the world during this month-long soccer extravaganza....!USA!USA!USA!)